Meet Michele...

My love for entertaining started when I was little. When my parents would have friends or family over I would approach them with a serving tray as soon as they walked in the front door and asked them what they would like to drink! I’m certain I dropped a good number of soda bottles while perfecting my serving techniques, but my parents were always encouraging. Our family was always having parties and entertaining. It was so much fun to host baseball games (we had a field in our backyard) corn roasts, celebratory birthday parties and holidays. My mom took cake decorating classes and would make my little sister and I the most impressive birthday cakes you have ever seen!My love for food started in college. I only applied to one school, the University of Wisconsin-Stout. They had a Hospitality & Tourism Management program that was nationally recognized and I was able to focus on restaurant management. I remember the first dish I made that actually turned out. It was a broccoli and cheese soufflé in my semester one Foods class. Growing up in the small town of Mayville, Wisconsin I had never eaten a soufflé, much less knew what one was or even how to pronounce it! I was so impressed with myself. At the end of each class we were required to sample all of the dishes we made and it really opened my eyes to different produce, cuts of meat, cheeses and herbs. Where had these things been all my life?! My mom was a great cook and an even better baker, but we never had fresh fish or cilantro or triple cream brie. These new flavors and textures were so exciting to me. After college I started experimenting more and more with new recipes and entertaining at home with friends and family. My first job out of college allowed me to play a significant role in the opening of Hidden Glen Golf Club which included a restaurant, bar and two lounges. I learned much more about the restaurant industry by being hands on in a number of different facets. A few years later after I had briefly changed careers, I was approached and offered the position of Executive Director of the Chandelier Ballroom in Hartford in April 2003. The Ballroom is a banquet facility which hosts weddings, dinner auctions and other public and private events. We did not have an operational kitchen on-site at that time, so all of the food was catered by outside vendors. During my time at the Ballroom I worked part-time at Pottery Barn and took evening and weekend classes and MPTC earning my floral design certification and Milwaukee Area Technical College earning my associate’s degree in Culinary Arts. I also made a few guest appearances on a local television show called ‘Augie’s Elite Cuisine.’ That experience led to an offer by the show’s producer for me to have my own public access show entitled ‘Appetite for Entertaining.’ Appetite for Entertaining taped for three seasons and was aired in over 27 states around the country (see intro below). We won two awards and were on track for our fourth season when unfortunately, my producer moved to New York to pursue other interests. Without a producer, I decided to start my own catering company ‘Catering by Michele’ to learn more about that segment of the industry. I also drove to Nashville, Tennessee with my best friend to try out for the Food Network’s ‘Next Food Network Star.’ It was a great experience! Unfortunately, I was not selected, but there were other projects on my horizon. I taught cooking classes at Moraine Park Technical College for a time and got so much enjoyment out of ‘talking food’ to others and teaching them the lessons I have learned throughout my years of cooking. I also enjoyed sharing some of my favorite recipes and helping others build their culinary confidence. The time had come to stop supporting all of my other part-time interests and focus on a much larger project at the Ballroom. I was provided an amazing opportunity to design and implement our new commercial catering kitchen. I was allowed to make all of the decisions on the layout, construction, budget, fundraising efforts and the selection of both our large and small equipment. I created the menu, wrote all of the recipes and hired and trained all of the staff. We had our grand opening party in June of 2013 and with the help of our new staff, have made tremendous strides in operating a successful business. It has been one of the most rewarding opportunities of my life and I am so proud of what it has become. I really do have an Appetite for Entertaining. I love having people over to my home and cooking for them. Some recipes I test out on friends and family are delicious and others…not so much... but it is all part of the learning experience! I continually try to challenge myself by using different ingredients and alternate preparation methods. I have learned many, many things but have never claimed to know it all. I am proud when someone uses one of my recipes to entertain their own friends and family. I am so excited to utilize the Chandelier Ballroom’s kitchen and begin teaching cooking classes in our Fireside Room. I hope you enjoy the recipes, photos, techniques and ideas on this site and I hope to see you at one of my classes soon!